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Simple Tips to Reduce Mobile App Development Costs

Jun 07, 2017

Ever since the mobile app revolution started in back in 2008, the field of app development has witnessed a complete evolution. Right from smartphone/tablet apps to apps for televisions, connected cars, game consoles and VR devices, app development is gaining traction when one considers the potential number of devices.

According to Statista, the number of mobile app downloads expected to grow in the future to meet the demand for quality of apps that customers need. As of April 2017, the number of apps available in the leading app stores from Google Play was 2.8 million available apps, a figure which made it the world’s leading app store. Apple’s App Store was ranked second with 2.2 million apps.

Mobile application development process can be a time-consuming and expensive process. Many time startups and mid-sized organizations face an uphill task of controlling app development costs and at the same maintaining the performance of mobile app. In this blog, we will provide pointers about reducing mobile app development costs. Here are few issues to keep in mind

Here are few pointers to keep in mind during the mobile app development process

Number of platforms and Devices

Android, iOS, Windows or all. The cost of mobile application development services is directly proportional to the number of platforms and devices being supported. Each platform comes with its set of challenges and opportunities. Android app development is associated with fragmentation with different screen sizes and devices. Type of devices also needs to be taken into account. Will your app support phones or tablets or both?

Get into Iterative Development

Traditional methodology mainly revolves around developing all features planned, testing for performance and optimization for speed. Even if some features are not important for your app or rejected during the testing stage, you’ll spend resources implementing them. The Agile methodology reduces risks and expenses. This methodology splits the development cycle into small stages for manageable set of features. Each set will be developed, tested, and deployed through iterative cycles known as Sprints. Simply develop the core idea of your mobile application, and leave the development of secondary features for a later date.

Minimum Viable Product

The concept of Minimum Viable Product goes along with agile methodology. It requires launching product with core functionality. You can add advanced features once you understand the demand and the potential to earn revenues. This approach not only saves costs, but also provides safety against potential technical glitches.

Maintenance & Upgrades

Mobile app development is not all about deploying your app. It is all about constantly improving your app based on user experience and suggestions. Keep in mind that your development team needs to actively respond to negative feedback or bugs during the maintenance phase. Timely response to user feedback is essential to avoid user attrition due to poor performance.

Custom Designs and Animations

Custom user interface and animations would increase the cost of mobile application development compared to standard features. While each mobile app is different, there are several elements, such as buttons, navigation type that are common. Both the App Store and Google PlayStore have laid out guidelines in terms of UI/UX to get approved. For this reason, it is important to use standard and common elements wherever possible and customize only if necessary.

Cross platform development

There is no doubt that native apps offers speed and high performance, but developing for multiple platforms such as iOS, Android and Windows can increase mobile app development costs. In such cases, cross-platform development can significantly reduce the cost. All you need is just a professional developer with extensive experience working on cross-platform tools.

Cross platform apps can be seamlessly accessed through the Internet. As a result, updating apps becomes a simple task. User will not be required to download every update. This will also minimize supporting several app versions. The apps get automatically; ensuring all users access latest versions. However, there is a caveat; cross-platform development can if your app is not very complex and if it doesn’t require hardware integration.

Will performance suffer? If the answer is no, then go for cross-platform development!

Conclusion:

Based on your business objectives and long-term goals, it is important to decide if you want to invest in a native app or a hybrid app. Native apps are typically more expensive to develop, but are a more premium product that will give you better performance and more custom-designed features. It is very important to partner with right mobile app development company or hire dedicated mobile app developers to transform your vision into reality.

Albert Smith is Digital Marketing Manager at Hidden Brains . An experienced search engine specialist, content, social media marketer and a technical enthusiast, Albert frequently writes on diverse topics such as social media marketing trends, web & mobile app development best practices. He has worked with some of leading brands to build their online presence and scale their businesses.